Gospel: October 4, 2025
October 4, 2025 (Saturday)
26th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 2 / (White)
St. Francis of Assisi, religious
Ps 69:33-35, 36-37
The Lord listens to the poor.
1st Reading: Baruch 4:5-12, 27-29
Gospel: Luke 10:17-24
The 72 disciples returned full of joy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we called on your name.” Then Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. You see, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the Enemy, so that nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, don’t rejoice because the evil spirits submit to you; rejoice, rather, that your names are written in heaven.” At that time, Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and made them known to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. I have been given all things by my Father, so that no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said to them privately, “Fortunate are you to see what you see, for I tell you, that many prophets and kings would have liked to see what you see, but did not see it; and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”
Reflection:
“Their names are ‘written in heaven.’”
In his First Rule, Saint Francis of Assisi instructs the brothers to be joyful in the Lord, to be merry and courteous. Reflecting Christ’s words about the gloomy look of hypocrites (Mt 6:16-18), Saint Francis wanted his brothers to communicate the joy of knowing Christ. The hypocrites look miserable so that others will think they are very holy on account of their penances. Saint Francis counsels his brothers not to follow this path. Although they are to live a very simple life in poverty and penance, they are to be joyful. Therefore, their joy is not just another religious mask, like the gloom of the hypocrites. It’s not a false smile. It’s the joy of those who have experience of God. It’s the real joy of those who are contented even in trials because they are “servants of God” and because they are united to Christ. Jesus also corrects the first disciples so that their motive for rejoicing doesn’t focus on self but on being a servant of God. Thus, they are to rejoice not in the success of their ministry, but in the fact that their names are “written in heaven.” Do I reflect the joy of knowing Christ?
